


42 Paintings

by Arsoemon



Series: ShuKita 100 [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Grieving, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 09:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20654888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsoemon/pseuds/Arsoemon
Summary: A very brief peek into how one Phantom Thief may handle grief





	42 Paintings

The doctor comes out to the ER waiting room gripping her clipboard. Sojiro, Futaba, and Yusuke all stand in nervous anticipation. She stops and looks each one of them in the eyes, and that's when Yusuke notices the red rings lining her lower lids. His body goes numb and his ears cease to work as he watches the doctor's trembling lips form "I'm sorry."

The world moves at half its normal speed around him. Futaba opens her mouth wide in what he assumes is a scream. Sojiro pulls her close as he hides his own face in her hair. Yusuke, left to his own devices, is unsure what to do with his hands as they go from covering his mouth to wrapping around himself to reaching for someone. The weight in his heart doubles when he realizes that someone would be—should be—Akira. His hands settle on planting themselves in his hair as his vision fails him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the service, he remains where he stood, staring at nothing in particular. If he had even remotely been in his right mind, he would have heard the two approach him long before he saw them in his periphery. Even though he was surprised at someone speaking to him, his body was too tired to react. He turns with dull eyes to face the man, and Sojiro pulls him into a hug that he somehow manages to return. He says something about calling or coming by if he needs anything that Yusuke just nods to before the older man walks away.

This left Futaba, holding a small black urn. She gently hands it to him, and they both begin to cry again. She hugs him tightly as he holds on to the remains of their leader, the key member of the closest thing to a family he has ever known. She cautions him against doing something stupid at the threat of something or other before she, too, walks away. Yusuke—and Akira— take the train home.

He clears off a high shelf in the front room and sits the urn in the center. He picks a chair with the shelf in sight and watches it for a time, too spent to do anything else before he falls asleep. He wakes to a bright day and a frantic knocking at the door and stiffly rises to answer it.

His sad eyes scan the group waiting on the doorstep. "Where have you been?!" Ann is wiping tears away.

"We've called and messaged for the past four days," Makoto is equally as worried but more understanding.

"We thought..." Ryuji looks down.

"Perhaps you'd..." Haru blinks away her own tears.

"Stupid Inari!" Futaba's eyes water as she clenches her fists.

He's trying to form words as he processes what they're saying. "I... I apologize. I only took a nap.... I... Did you say four days?!" He searches each of their faces as they nod. "Four whole... ah, please do come in," he returns to his seat from before.

Makoto warms the food she brought for him as the others settle into solemn conversation and tearful reminiscing. Yusuke is notably silent, but no one presses the issue. They all had suspected for years that the two were more than simply housemates, but since they'd never openly discussed it, no one wanted to dig in that wound right now.

As they're all preparing to leave, Makoto notices that he'd eaten half the food, and while she's glad for that much at least, she knows it's less than normal. "Yusuke? Call us any time, for anything, okay?" He nods and returns her hug.

"Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About nine months pass with each of the others coming by regularly, sometimes as a group, other times alone, and still others in pairs. As Yusuke seems to be coming around, the visits slow a bit until one day, he misses a number of calls and texts from Haru. Thinking he may be out and about or getting back into his art, she gives it time. But two days go by with no response, and she calls Futaba for help to find him.

The others make it to the house first. Ryuji is about to attempt to break the door in when Haru comes down the path with the spare key they'd given her some time ago. They're shocked when the door opens to reveal painting after painting of Akira in various poses, settings, and moods lining every wall and piece of furniture in the front room. They stand in awe at these—someone counted 42– bittersweet reminders of what once was, who once was.

Haru is first to remember why they'd come by as a group in the first place. "Yusuke?" She scans the room as she walks through slowly. She stops short as her eyes come to rest on what looks like a foot behind the coffee table. She reaches backward as if looking for something to steady herself and only continues when her hand comes to rest on Ryuji's arm. "Yusuke?" Her voice begins to tremble, and her heart begins to race the closer she gets to what she refuses to acknowledge as a possible corpse. She gasps and runs toward the face obscured by that familiar long blue hair. She listens to his bare chest, praying to find a heartbeat.

It's all she can do to contain herself when she does. "He's alive!" She tries to shake him awake and is only mildly startled when she uncovers his face to find his eyes partially open. "Yusuke? Can you hear me?" He nods weakly and attempts to raise his arms. They help him stand, a bit too quickly if the way his head lolls backward is any indication. They clear a seat to rest him in, Futaba holding onto the paintings in the way.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Ann crouches by his knee. Still looking just barely alive, he points toward the kitchen.

"Is someone in there?" Ryuji attempts a whisper. Yusuke shakes his head before resting his hand on his stomach that always seems to growl on cue. Ryuji brings him a water as they warm up the curry Futaba brought and order half a restaurant in takeout.

He finishes the water and curry in less than five minutes and, while revitalized enough to function, still seems to be sluggish but anticipating that takeout. Luckily, he doesn't leave them in suspense. "I started to paint again." Everyone stares, expecting more to the story.

"Well yeah, we can see that," Futaba urges him on just as Makoto seems to understand.

"Wait. None of these were here last week, right?" He shakes his head.

"You made 42 paintings in one week?!" Ryuji's eyes widen as Ann simultaneously shouts, "Yusuke!"

"I'd lost my muse." He states softly and simply, a sad weight in his eyes, and the room goes still. "I couldn't fathom being able to paint again. And then," he gestures broadly. "Inspiration struck as I imagine a train might. I'd been so blinded by anguish that I couldn't see the truth; I couldn't see what was literally right in front of me. My muse had never left, merely transcended beyond my grasp in my current state. Great achievement requires great sacrifice, and while I never wished to be great enough to require the life of a dear friend as compensation, I cannot and will not allow his untimely departure to pass unnoticed as if he were something unremarkable. And so, not wanting to allow said inspiration to slip away again, I went from canvas to canvas until I simply could not any longer. And there you found me." He sits back and suddenly seems tired but in a different way from all those months ago. "I sincerely apologize for worrying you all. Feel free to readjust him as needed. Make yourselves at home." With that, he falls asleep.

Only partially caught off guard by the whirlwind of an explanation, they do just that and move the paintings with the utmost care and respect as they sit around the room. Ryuji turns on the TV as they all discuss how this episode is a welcome step toward him coming back to himself.

The doorbell rings, and three of them form a sort of assembly line to accept all the food. Ann drapes a blanket over Yusuke when it becomes clear that no amount of noise or shaking or delicious aromas will wake him right now. They all decide that they'll place another order when he wakes up, and if this ends up becoming a sleepover, so be it. Ryuji proposes a toast to their friendship, to Yusuke's recovery, and of course, to Akira; and it seems to Futaba that all of the visible Akiras begin to smile.

**Author's Note:**

> My friend gave this a low angst rating, so I’m hoping the ending is warm enough to balance it. Thanks for reading!


End file.
